This paper discusses and analyzes the relations between globalization, livings standard, quality of life and international competitiveness. Special focus is on the Baltic countries. Furthermore, the question is asked, whether there are obstacles to high growth in the future for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

This paper investigates the situation and future development of human resources in Europe. It is discussed whether economic growth and growth of living standard in the future against the background of demographic changes is possible.

The paper deals with the problem of how to define and measure welfare, which can be seen either as a part of social policy or as a state of mind. Central to the discussion is the question, whether GDP can be used as a measure of welfare. Descriptive methods are used, besides of statistical estimations. A sample of authors which discuss the relation between GDP and welfare are presented.

The paper discusses differences between large and small countries regarding prosperity and other economic aspects. Countries are defined as large when GDP and population is large and when they can influence other countries economically. Prosperity is defined as GDP pc. 

This paper investigates in which way the EU members have achieved the Lisbon Agenda Goals according to the W orld Economic Forum (WEF, 2010) according to itd Lisbon Reviews. Furthermore the Global Competitiveness Index 2010 (WEF) for the EU member countries is shown. In both cases focus is on the Baltic Countries and Sweden.